To make marking the 17½” x 17½” square of interfacing easier, tape it to your cutting mat with the adhesive side (i.e., the bumpy side) facing up. Using a pencil, mark lines every 2½”. In the end, you’ll have a grid that is 7 squares horizontally and 7 squares vertically.

Laying out and Ironing

Preheat your iron on the cotton setting.

Position the marked interfacing, adhesive side up, on your ironing board. Lay out the 2½” squares for the heart and background.

If you’re using a jelly roll strip for the background, as I did, you could cut it into (15) 2½” squares, but it’s not necessary with this piecing technique. Instead, cut it into 9 pieces and place them in the background:

(5) 2½” squares

(2) 2½” x 5” rectangles

(2) 2½” x 7½” rectangles

Once you’re pleased with your layout, fuse the fabric to the interfacing by pressing it with your hot iron. Double-check that all the pieces have adhered to the interfacing.

Sewing and Pressing

Fold your fused block along a vertical line so that the right sides of the fabric are together. Secure with pins or clips, and sew a generous ¼” seam. Repeat with the remaining vertical seams.

Slice off a tiny amount of each seam allowance, and press each one open.

Repeat the process for the horizontal seams.

Troubleshooting

This technique is fairly foolproof. (Truth be told, I did fuse the interfacing to my ironing board instead of the fabric, but that only happened once. Ha!) If you find loose threads behind any light-colored squares, gently loosen the fabric from the interfacing and use tweezers to remove the culprit. The earlier in the process you discover those threads, the easier it is to remove them.

I'm totally into pixel quilts these days....And just this morning I was planning on using this method for a block design I've had in my mind. I was happy to see your tutorial linked up! You'be inspired me to go ahead and take the plunge!